BOCA RATON, FL (November 1, 2009)
–Florida Atlantic University’s
department of English in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and
Letters presents the inaugural Literary Authors Series with book
readings and lectures by FAU faculty and visiting author
s. The presentations will take place in the
Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, which is located at 201 Plaza
Real at the south end of Mizner Park in Boca Raton.

The series format is designed to
interview authors and engage the audience in a discussion
regarding the authors’ works or issues addressed in their
books. All programs are presented free to the community.
Following each program, the authors will have their books
available for sale and signing.

“We are thrilled to be
working with Chris Fluehr, CFP of SunTrust Investment Services,
Inc. and the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Organization to offer this
new series that will highlight our faculty, alumni and Master of
Fine Arts student authors, along with outstanding visiting
authors,” said Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the Dorothy F.
Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. “We are committed to
providing outstanding community programming, and we hope to
continue this series for several years to come.”

The first author is Africa Fine,
FAU alumnus and associate professor of English and literature at
Palm Beach Community College in Boca Raton. On Thursday, November
19 at 7 p.m., Fine will discuss her novel
Save Me. Fine has published four novels, including
Katrina, Becoming Maren, Looking for Lily and
Save Me. She recently completed her fifth novel,
Swan, to be published in 2010. This event will be
moderated by Wenying Xu, chair of the FAU department of
English.

Then on Thursday, February 11 at 7
p.m., the award-winning FAU student authors that have been
published in the latest edition of “Coastlines,”
FAU’s literary magazine, will read selections from this
year’s edition. A copy of “Coastlines” will be
given to all participants. This event will be moderated by Kate
Schmitt, assistant professor of creative nonfiction at
FAU.

On Thursday, April 1 at 7 p.m.,
the 2010 Lawrence A. Sanders Writer-in-Residence Program presents
poet Forrest Gander. Gander has written numerous books of poetry
including
Eye Against Eye,
Torn Awake and
Science and Steepleflower. Gander also wrote the novels
As a Friend and the book of essays
A Faithful Existence. Gander’s poems appear
in many literary magazines in the United States and abroad. He is
currently a professor of English and comparative literature at
Brown University.

Becka McKay, FAU assistant
professor of translation and creative writing, will discuss her
books
Blue Has No South, a translation from the Hebrew of Alex
Epstein, and
A Meteorologist in the Promised Land, a book of
poetry,on Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m. This event will be
moderated by Andrew Furman, FAU professor of English.

The 2009 Literary Authors Series
is presented by FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts
and Letters; Chris Fluehr, CFP, SunTrust Investment Services,
Inc.; the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Organization; the Palm Beach
County Cultural Council; Palm Beach County; and the Palm Beach
County Tourist Development Council. For more information, visit
www.fau.edu/english
or call 561-297-2974.

- FAU
–

About Florida Atlantic
University:

Florida Atlantic University opened
its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida.
Today, the University serves more than 28,000 undergraduate and
graduate students on seven campuses. Building on its rich
tradition as a teaching university, with a world-class faculty,
FAU hosts 10 colleges: College of Architecture, Urban &
Public Affairs, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters,
the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the College
of Business, the College of Education, the College of
Engineering & Computer Science, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors
College, the Graduate College, the Christine E. Lynn
College of Nursing and theCharles E. Schmidt College of Science.